The following was used in worship at the Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren, on
May 30, 1999, written by Pete Haynes for use at camp this coming summer.

In a 'Delightful' Garden

(a drama based on Genesis 2)

There are 5 characters in this drama. 1 & 2 are narrators who stand, one on one
side, the other on the other side of wherever is considered "center stage."
"A" is the first man, Adam, though were not using that name at this point,
it comes into play more in Genesis 3. "A" is offstage at first. Look for cue and
placement later on in script. "E" is offstage and only comes towards the end -
not a speaking part, sorry. "G" (God) should not be visible.

2 - You know something, I really like this place.

1 - You do, do you?

2 - Yep! Furthermore, I like all these people.

1 - I can agree with that.

2 - Ive got one word to describe it all.

1 - One word?

2 - One word!

1 - Pray tell, what is that word?

2 - Delightful.

1 - Delightful ?

2 - De-light-ful.

1 - I suppose I can buy that. This is a delightful place, and these are delightful
people.

2 - For the most part.

1 - Which part, the people or the place?

2 - Well, I dont know everybody here. So how can I say that they are all
delightful?

1 - Youve got a point there. Maybe you could say that as far as you know
theyre all
delightful.

2 - Okay, as far as I know theyre all delightful.

1 - Delightful ?

2 - Delightful.

1 - You know, that reminds me of another place.

2 - Another delightful place?

1 - Yes. It reminds me of a story of a delightful garden.

2 - Cool ! I like gardens.

1 - Youll like this one. In fact, the name of this garden actually means
"delight."

2 - It does? Boy, is that a coincidence or what!

1 - Its no coincidence. You brought up the word "delightful," which
reminded me
of this garden.

1 - Yes, a tree of life. "The other tree gave the power to know the
difference between
right and wrong."

2 - Boy, there are a lot of people nowadays who I wish would eat the fruit of that
tree.
They dont seem to
know right from wrong.

1 - That may not really be the problem.

2 - What do you mean?

1 - Knowing whats right and doing whats right are two different things.

2 - Oh, thats good, thats very good. Ill have to remember that.

G - I wish you would.

A - Are we going anywhere with this story?

2 - Maybe we should jump over the part about all those rivers that flowed out from
Eden.
Frankly, I dont
know how to pronounce their names. For example, is the first one
"piss-shun"
or "pie-shawn" or "piss-shown" or "pie-shoon"?

1 - Thats not a bad idea. Besides, we know where the Tigris and the Euphrates
rivers are,
but we havent a
clue about the others. (note to reader: thats "Tie-gris"
and "You-fray-teas")

2 - Is that how theyre pronounced? I thought it was "tea-grease" and
"up-rates."

1- Moving right along.

2 - Moving right along.

1 - "The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to take care of it and to look
after it."

2 - "But the Lord told him,"

G - "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the
power to
let you know the
difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from
that tree, you will die
before the day is over!"

2 - I suppose the other part of this story, the part were not telling right now,
has to do
with eating the fruit
from that tree.

1 - You got it.

2 -

(to "A") Just couldnt
keep your hands off that fruit, could you?("A" put hands up in "what, me?" pose)

1 - "The Lord God said,"

G - "It isnt good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable
partner for him."

2 - Well, the poor guy was getting a bit lonely. Had God created deodorant yet?

1 - That was Procter and Gamble.

2 - Are they in this story?

1 - No, now lets get on with it!

2 - "So, the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds, and brought them to
the
man to see what names
he would give each of them."

1 - "Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals.
Thats
how they got their
names."

2 - Gee! I didnt know that.

1 - Now you do.

A - Lets see. You

(points to imaginary animal, same pattern
for each thereafter) Ill name a "dog."
Thats
"god" backwards, by the way. You I shall name "cockatoo." You I
believe
should be a "lion,"
but dont get too close. You look kind of dangerous.

1 - And so it went.

2 - I guess the man was no longer lonely, huh?

1 - Well, not exactly.

2 - All these animals and he couldnt find a friend?

1 - Nope! "None of these was the right kind of partner for the man."

2 - "So the Lord God made him to fall into a deep sleep." ("A" lies
down)

1 - "And he took out one of the mans ribs."

2 - Hey, thats not too cool if you ask me.

G - No one asked you.

2 - Youre right, Lord.

1 - "Then after closing the mans side, the Lord made a woman out of the
rib."

2 - ...woman made from one of mans ribs. (snickers) Oh, thats good,
thats very good!

1 - At least it wasnt his brain.

A - (still lying down) Do you mind, cant someone get a little shut-eye around
here?

2 - No, because its time to get up, silly.

A - Oh! (gets up)

1 - "The Lord God brought the woman to the man."("E"
comes up to "A", they look each other over - as you do, recall the word
"innocense")

2 - "The man exclaimed,"

A - "Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones.
I do believe she is woman."

1 - "Thats why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a
woman,
and the two become like
one person." ("A" & "E" exit, 1 & 2
watching)

2 -

(after theyve left) Is that true?

1 - Thats what the story says.

2 - Hey, the woman didnt get to say anything.

1 - Dont worry. Shell have plenty of opportunities in the days ahead.

2 - I suppose youre right.

1 - Always am!

G - No, I am.

1 - Of course. Thanks, Lord, for creating everything, and for caring about loneliness.

G - Youre welcome. I care about a lot of things. And I have much more in store.

2 - More stories?

G - The best story youve ever heard.

1 - You know where to find us.

G - Indeed I do. By the way, theres one more thing Id like to say.

2 - Whats that, Lord?

G - In spite of it all, I still think that everything I made was very good.